Not Another Mass Effect Fanfic
by Nexus Khaiyne
Summary: The would be weird tale of a Quarian and a Drell aboard a Suicide mission.


Not Another Mass Effect Fanfic

 **CHAPTER 1**

 **Tali**

 _Bosh't'Keelah, Tasi'Ůt Nedas_ _ **[1]**_

The old curse rang quite true for her current state.

The Normady was her refuge for so long. It was her place of _Ju'Kũũns_ hae. A place that is best described as 'Scary Solace'. She remembered how she struggled with the silence of the ship. It felt soulless for so long. Beautiful and elegant, but ... It lacked, _Keelah se'lai_ ... it was art without the heart. Too clinical.

So she quickly she came to enjoy the Mess Hall. As quiet as the Normady was she remembered, whenever the silence became too oppressive, or she needed a break from examining the Drive core system schematics for improvements to optimise the rendering better. that the Mess became her favourite retreat. there were always people there. chatting communing, sharing meals. It was one of her few cures for my being homesick. That and of course, Garrus, Wrex and Shepard.

Being the only Quarian was difficult then, in the beginning, at least. She found the stares became very unnerving and distracting, especially from Ashley, Keelah Se'lut[2], but after Shepard was able to get Garrus and Wrex talking, well you could do nothing to shut them up. Well Garrus that is. That quiet stoicism, fell away fairly quickly when he tried to match stories with Wrex.

A smile betrayed her lips, and upon noticing, disappeared again quickly. Because this place, this place is too familiar and yet not. It's the Normandy, but not quite. She had gotten used to the noise of the flotilla again, and now the silent running, she felt it was pressing down on her. But there was more to it than that... this was not the real Normandy. but the Normandy 2.0. Bigger, faster, stronger, and, with an AI Brain. A brain, but no heart. There was something in there, somewhere that reminded her of something that Shepard had made her watch, but her memory failed her.

This Ship, was not the Normandy. This Crew, was Not Her crew. No, her crew had died.

Tali's fists clenched again, and she allowed her head to fall into her hands. No, this crew was worse than her crew being dead. They were Cerberus. And so was Shepard. Was this even Shepard? Rebuilt? After everything that Cerberus had done, that they had uncovered in fighting Saren, to have Shepard betray all of that. It just did not seem right. Not unless she had good reason? Right?

"Bosh'tet!, Bosh'tetica[3] Frayala vas Er'cere![4] Tet! Tet! Shtet![5]" She slammed her hand on to the table. "By the Ancestors of our homeworld! "

 _My men, they all lost their lives today, and for what? To find out that dark energy is affecting the local star. What a waste. What a waste of life._

"To Good Men!" She picked up a glass of Turian brandy and placed the straw into the feeding slot on her helmet and took a short sip.

"Too Good Men" A familiar gravel echoed.

Garrus pulled up next to her and indicated that he would like a shot of the same. They waited in silence until the glass came, Then Lifted and both took a draw. Garrus bottom up the glass and then, indicated for another.

"How... how do you deal with it Garrus?"

"With what?"

"With failing your team?"

"Did you fail your team Tali?"

Tali was getting frustrated now: "Keelah! Yes I Did! There all dead aren't they? I consider THAT a failure!"

"Then here's to failure." he lifted his glass of turian brandy and clinked the end against Tali's. then downing he signalled for another for each of them.

Tali looked at him. Garrus was for the most part someone who might not have always stayed the line of "By the Book", perhaps even more so with the influence that Shepard had over him. But he had, at least to her, offered a supportive role in her life. During the isolation of the Normandy, he and Wrex had shared in the affliction of being the only other aliens on board the ship. Well so did Liara, Tali had to add, but Asari always have a way of making it good with the males, where ever they go. At least looked more-or-less human. Or at least Shepard seemed to think that.

But Garrus had always been there for her in the past. But this Garrus. the one who had helped Shepard rescue Tali, the one with half a cybertronic face, the one who spoke solely of vengeance, was a shadowy shell.

Or maybe he had just grown up. It seemed they all had.

She definitely had.

 _Well if this was being grown up_. She thought darkly. _its bullshit and I wish it would just go away._

She allowed herself to think back two years ago; to the battle against time and the Team that they once were. The seven of them had helped to stop one of the single greatest threats of the time; the return of the Reapers. Saren had led them on a wild goose chase that had them face some interesting foes. The Geth, Cerberus, Saren and Sovereign to name a few. Tali herself was witness to several surprising events like the release of a Rachni Queen and the Prothean Ruins on Ilios.

However, the truth is that, what lay behind, during in that mission, was death. So much Death. The death of the Thorian and the settlers on Feros, and then the destruction of the Destiny Ascension. The death of Wrex by Ashley's hand then her death subsequently. As angry as she was at Ashley, she felt that she did not deserve to die on Virmire.

And then Shepard...

Before he died, she thought that death followed him around. _But_ , she thought, _it actually followed me._

Finishing off her Brandy she left to go to her quarters. But before she could leave Garrus placed a hand on hers

"I'm sorry about your team." his coarse voice softened, although he didn't move from staring blankly at the news feed by the bar.

"Yeah me too... about yours I mean."

A light squeeze and Tali left to go back to her quarters. She needed to get her mind off this shit and the only way she knew how was to lose herself in the parameters and subroutines of something she knows that she can do well. Engines.

As she exited the mess, an unsteady step told her before her internal sensors, that she would need to clear her head from all this brandy. She opened the door and went straight for the detox treatment system. Kal' called it "Double vision away." She giggled at that before docking the vial into the primary injection valve. It took a little more effort to get them in line than it should have but then, she normally did not have four glasses of turian brandy. _That Phinres_ _ **[6]**_ _brandy is especially strong_ she thought. Much stronger than the fermented juice samples aboard the flotilla. Even when her and Kal' stole some of her father's 'Admirals Bark' spirits, a clear liquid extracted from the bulbous fruit of the _Pherelia_ _ **[7]**_ Tree and they got drunk off two tube-fills. She remembered that the bottle had a picture of a _Qualip_ and _Fe'hreh_ _ **[8]**_ as its signature crest and how Reegar and her laughed so loudly that her father found them out.

 _Bosh'keeli'se_ _ **[9]**_ _Kal'reegar vas Qwib-Qwib_ she said, raising an invisible glass, lost in thought. She smiled sadly knowing how much he hated that. She turned the music player on, allowed herself to just drift.

 _Two Hours Later_

Commander Shepard stood at the head of the conference room. He paced back and forward and this meant that he was antsy and ready for action. Tali had gotten used to this behaviour while they worked together on the Normandy. He was a man of action if ever she had seen one. Some may call him rude or even cruel at times, but no one could ever doubt that he was the first to put himself in the line of fire, and was rearing to go and do what it took to complete mission.

He had convened this meeting to discuss what to do with the next recruit. And an odd assortment of people this team was becoming if she saw. They had actually divided themselves on to either side of the conference Table. Tali and Garrus had chosen the right side having gotten there first. That Cerberus agent, Miranda, followed closely behind by Jacob. Tali had now fought alongside them a few times now and still, she did not trust them. Miranda irked her with her total arrogance and self confidence. And Jacob; well it was not a secret at the way that he would stare at the females of the crew. Slime.

"He is an unknown entity, Shepard..." Miranda was saying.

"I happen to agree with Miranda on this Commander." Jacob said, backing her

"Of course you fucking do! Cerberus puppies all following their Cerberus fucking tits"

That was Jack. She was recruited right before they came for Tali. She was on the rescue team. And having seen her in action, Tali could totally understand why. She had never seen such Biotic Power before.

But all that anger.

Tali could not help but feel that Jacks outward rage was something that she and Shepard shared, only that Shepard had learned to control it better, and in that He was able to reign her in. Jack made it clear that in, every way she was as far away from anything Cerberus as possible. So she positioned herself behind Tali and Garrus against the wall.

"I say we wake him the fuck up and see what this big guy can do with his... big guns!" A naughty smile crossed her face as she provokingly stared at Miranda. "You know what they say about the size of a Krogans hump and the size of their..."

" This is not the time for Juvinile behavior! Cerberus would not want us to open the case until a full study the subject and all the necessary precautions have been done." Miranda ignored Jack who just stuck out her arm and flipped her off.

Tali noted Garrus and Shepard swop a smirk and she found herself joining in. As much as it could get annoying, sometimes the banter was actually a great relief to the tension. And Jack was great at poking the buttons that led right to the stick shoved so deeply up Miranda'...

"Ok settle down you two." Shepard voice interrupted, " I need some more ideas. Thats two votes against to one for. What do you guys say, Garrus? Tali?"

Garrus breathed deeply for a moment. " I say we open it up. Best case scenario we have new powerhouse on our side. Maybe even a new Wrex. Would be nice to have someone else take the collateral damage." He said with a pained laugh, touching the side of his face, "Also to be the one with more stories this time." he coughed, " Worst case, we put it down and deliver it to Cerberus on a golden platter and wait for the whole 'I Told You So' speech from Miranda."

A single resounding "HA!" burst from behind them. Shepard smiled.

"Tali?"

"I agree. Okeer put in a lot of effort into constructing him. Designing what he called, 'The Perfect Krogan'. Should all his effort really go to waste. I mean," her voice broke slightly," otherwise his death would have been for nothing. Meaningless." _And have we not had enough of that already_. She thought.

"Two against three for waking him. Hmmmm Okay this is a tight one." Shepard mused, " What do you say Mordin?"

"Well," the Salarian started." Well I do not have the ties that bind and curb the decisions made by the these two," he said, gesturing the Cerberus compatriots," I do happen to agree with them. This is a new specimen. A "Perfect" Krogan at that. Would need to examine. Run tests. Check and double check results. Would be better if kept in tank. Easier control. Before opening. But my view is only on study interest and how new genetic manipulations has interacted with Genophage. Once I have my answers, would be fascinated to see him in action."

After a moment, for one needed a moment when dealing with the salarian speed of speec h, Shepard said. " Okay, so we are tied at the moment." He ran a hand along his jaw. " How about you, Krios? What do you think?"

A noticeable tensing of Garrus, at the mention of the last figure in the conference room actually put Tali on edge a little. Although she did not feel the same about the drell as He did, she had been around long enough to trust his instincts, and if his instincts were not only saying, but screaming distrust. So as he stiffened so did she, and then, she noticed that so did Jacob. As apparent as it was that they didn't like the Krios, she got the feeling that Garrus did not like him because he was an Assassin, and by their nature assassins could not be trusted. Jacob's scowl, on the other hand, seemed set that he simply detested the drell, which only proceeded to give her another reason not to enjoy his presence.

Krios righted himself a bit more at being addressed and, hands behind his back, answered Shepard.

"I do not make a habit as one who plays fates with the unknown." He said softly after a moment. " But would it not be tactically unsound to ignore such a valuable asset."

Tali saw Shepard nod in agreement. Although the drell was reserved and few with his words, Tali noted how they came across from a place of experience and self assurance.

"Thank you all for your views. I think that, given the situation here, I would not like to give to Cerberus something that we could potentially use. So I will go later and open the tank and see what weapon Okeer left for us." He turned slightly before pausing again and starred forward to view the whole conference room.

"Garrus, Jack I would like you two down there with me in case any shit happens and we need a show of force." Then a weary expression came through as he cast his eyes to the right. "and yes Miranda I would expect you to come as well in order to check that everything follows Cerberus protocols. But if he's hungry, one word from you and I'll sic him on you!" He picked up his command pad. "Rest of you are dismissed" he then turned and beckoned, "Tali. Can you come here for a moment?" He waited till the rest was at least through the door. She approached him as he waited for the room to empty; " Please inform Joker that we will be staying here in Illium for a little while longer. I have one more dossier to consider here and... some personal business to attend to. After that we will head for the Citadel."

"Of course Shepard" She said and he gestured for her to leave.

 _The personal business eh Shepard? Fairly obvious to work out?_ Tali thought. She had suspected that, upon meeting up with Liara again that those old feelings would arise. Although, when she thought about it, those feelings might not be as old for Shepard. While two years passed for everyone else, technically not as much time had passed for him. But both he and Liara, if there had been any, were able to cover it up nicely.

Remembering the shock on Liara's face brought home the shock she had on seeing him too. As much as she tried to hide it or deny it to herself, during her stay aboard the Normandy she had developed something of a crush towards some of the males. Well just two of them to be fair. Shepard and Garrus were the only real ones that she had liked. Strong men with a bit of a bad side. Having been alone for a while toward the end of her Pilgrimage as she had, only to be whisked up in an intense adventure of chase and fear, it was very normal to become quite intimate with the people in close proximity.

So lost was she in her thoughts at that moment that on leaving the conference room, detouring through Solus's Lab, her autopilot did not really register that there would be people just behind the door, and upon opening she walked straight into Thane Krios and the good doctor deepin a hushed conversation. In fact so shocked was she to have bodies, suddenly materialising in front of her that she reeled a little too far backwards, and she lost her balance. What appeared to be lightening fast reflexes clasped her wrist and corrected her stance before she was even aware that she was falling. In fact, so fast had the drell clasped, braced and steadied her before letting go, that she found she could not trust her eyes to have seen it. By the time she was fully aware and recovered, he was already back to his usual stiff stance, hands behind back, eyes intense and watchful.

"My Apologies, Ms vas Neema" he said softly, looking at her. "I did not mean to obstruct your passage."

It took a moment as all the embarrassing thought came rushing through. _What was he apologising for, I was not looking where I was going? Lost in my thoughts and not paying attention. Now I have disrupted their conversation. Gah, thinking about Shepard and Garrus? It's a good thing this face mask is polarised? Oh why are they still looking at me? Oh, because I still haven't said anything yet? Keelahsh'tet_ _ **[10]**_

"N..n.. no... No need to apologise It was MY fault entirely. I wasn't looking and just barged straight through... I did not mean to... well to interrupt you.. both of you... in your discussion, here... I mean...I well... was just on my way to tell Joker about going... well staying and then going... and" the words sort of tumbled out in an array of different toned voices and speeds that made her think for a moment, that she was not the one talking.

She stopped and took a breath. And suddenly noticed that they were still just looking at her. The drell had the same mask of calm, eyes just absorbing what he saw, Dr Solus was also staring, deadpan face, except his eyes gave away the mirth that he was concealing. She checked herself quickly and then with a brief. "Okay well, I'll be going now." She made a hasty retreat through the doors sealing behind her as she heard the doctor restart his conversation with Krios. She avoided any further incidents and went straight for the cockpit.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya vas Neema. Greetings. Your body language, since your encounter in the medical laboratory, suggests that you are somewhat 'uncomfortable'? Is there something that I can assist with?" The melodically toned voice of the AI broke her from her concentration and filled her with a chill like dread.

"No." she said coldly, ignoring the avatar. "Joker" She saided pointedly, "Shep says we are going to be stationed around here for a while longer. We still have work here and well... Liara too."

"Say no more T. When this captain pulls into her port, he's a hopin' thar be booty at the end of his plundarrr!"

A brief laugh escaped from Joker was met with the deafening silence that resonated from the rest of the cockpit. Finally as he turned back to his systems check, the silence having stretched to its full awkward crescendo, EDI Chimed, " Analysis shows that, that statement is meant to be in jest. It refers to pre-modern interpretations of the sea-faring pirates. The humour is found in the synonymous, pun-like nature of the word "booty", as a depiction of the pirate treasure as well as reference to Liara's posterior. "

The void of silence grew exponentially.

"Sometimes," Tali sighed with a shake of her head, "I think I will never understand humans" and she turned and walked away.

Behind her she heard the AI resume, "Extranet sources explain that humour is generally a social tool either used to uplift an individual's spirit, safely deal with painful and or uncomfortable social truths and or used to strengthen social bonds within a group." It paused, "It would appear Mr Moreau, that your attempt failed to fill all three categories. I would suggest reading up on the proper utilisation and constructions of humorous jokes and witty quibs, so as to achieve a better result in the future. I can assist in retrieving and suggesting some..."

"Shut up EDI!" was followed by a bang on the console as apparently the mute button was hit, a little too hard as evident by the painful yelp that joker expelled after. Tali couldn't help but smile as she continued to make her way back to Engineering.

 **Thane**

It had been one week since his boarding the Normandy. Well to be precise it had been 157 hours since his arrival and still the Assassin felt ill at ease.

This was not a uncommon enough feeling for Thane. His training had made him ever vigilant and aware of probable and various threats. And these were quite abundant aboard this vessel. The turian, Garrus Vakarian and the human, Jacob Taylor had made their hostility plainly apparent. This he completely understood. According to the turain, he was untested and unknown. As a former cop and a soldier, Thane knew that the turian was on edge due to having someone who works outside of laws aboard. Even during his spell with Shepard as Spectre, their actions and all were still held to and bound by the council. They may have played loosely with the rules, but they were still accountable to the council. He, however, was not.

It was for this reason why he was surprised when Shepard had requested his presence in the conference room. Knowing that he was a recent recruit, and fully aware that he did not participate in the encounter on Korlus he did not expect to included, much less have his opinion asked. His recruitment was both surprising and yet calculatedly understandable. His skills for the necessary missions would be an added bonus, and he would be a resource for the commander to use. He know of the Illusive man and Cerberus. There are not many in the shadows of the galaxy who had not heard of their activities. But for Cerberus to recruit not just a drell, but the array for different species as has appeared it has for this 'suicide trip', spoke of a threat graver than he had initially assumed.

Most barely knew who these collectors were. They were myths, but Thane had encountered their names before. He recalled the names of his targets where they were mentioned. Xau'ool, Ten-Spires-of-Eternity, Dax, Kogore and Callum all mentioned them. A plethora of images filled his mind as he battled to control the sudden recollections.

 _Xau'ool. By the counter. Dark green liquid in right hand. Drunk. Speaking to an Asari. "Yessh, this iss... is my neweressst prototype." He slurred, " sheller tolds me itss, itss," He looked around and leaned in to whisper, ".. it came from thoshe Collectorsh."_

 _Blue hues of light flashing as he followed his target. A quarian on pilgrimage. Wrong place, wrong time. Quick poision to her suit. Dyreneoxide. Death in 4 min. To the left by the pillar a Krogan, hand gripping the throat of a salarian, " Nice gun salarian... So what's stopping me from using it on you and walking away?" he threatened, "Kogore," the salarian gulped, struggling at the grip, "Can get you more. In contact with a Collector trader."_

 _Smell of death. Clinical and cold. He stays to the shadows watching as his target, the volus, slowly prepares for his autopsy. The volus mutters to himself quietly as he uses the scapel to cut under the ribs. " Ah my salarian friend, lets see what *intake* you have for us today, shall we? *intake* Perhaps a memory core from a geth or *intake* some new salvage from those collectors hmm?"_

 _Dark room. Office block. Illium. Noise outside distils the quiet tapping coming from the farthest corner. Callum, gossip journalist on batarian pay roll. Final member. Slipping garrotte around neck. Illuminated screen reads, 'Hanar leader 'Enkindles' relationship with Collector.'_

 _Falling to my knees. Chilled air sweeps carrying the sea air. Nightdale scent on the wind. The Kahjean moons, The-Tidal-Dances-Together-As-One, ascending on the horizon. My master raising a cowl. The hues of sorrowful blues and pained yellows glow through him. He touches my shoulder. "Your vengeance is now justified Silent-As-The-Carved-Stone. Let the anger go and let yourself mourn." His voice a salve in my mind. My tears falling. Ten-Spires-Of-Eternity approaches. "Sire, the Collector's contact has arrived."_

Thane breathed.

Closing his eyes he took a moment to return to _freyăęire._

His place of nothingness.

He felt his training kick in. The calm flow from the 'black river' ran through his body, emptying him. Peace.

The drell started learning this lesson from when they could talk. It was necessary, otherwise "the mind river flows like a waterfall and we drown." He remembered his father explaining. "So when the flow of memories comes, breathe through it." His father taught him and his siblings about the _freyăęire_. " 'Calling the black river.' The spirit of the mind is forever recording our lives. But as we train our bodies in strength and speed, so too must we learn to train our minds and souls. When we find our souls in turmoil, filled with emotions, or our minds in _tu-käre_ _ **[11]**_ . We call upon the black river to bring us home. It is Kalahira's gift."

Thane bowed his head and silently thanked Kalahira for her grace and forgiveness. Then he stoodand started his morning rituals, pondering on his conversation with Dr Solus.

"Yes. Shepard mentioned. Fascinating current research. Genetic modifications and developments producing interesting results. No cure yet unfortunately. However, this is not the question you came to ask? You have offspring I take it?"

"A son yes. I have not seen him in... a long time. But I would like to know."

"Yes, yes. Family ties are understandable. I myself would be considering similar possibilities. From the evidence. There is a genetic cause corresponding to Kepral's Syndrome activation. Passed in the male seed unfortunately. Genetic inheritance high probability. Flaw in the 24th Chromosome. Untraceable until maturation. Then untreatable. Likelihood your son has it. At very least is a carrier." The salarian placed an hand on Thanes arm. "Very sorry to inform you thus."

At that moment the door opened and in walked the quarian, Tali'Zhora and nearly walked straight into them. Had he not react so, she would have. But in his movements he noticed her suddenly jerk back. Predicting the fall from her faulty footing, he placed a quick right foot dip, gripped her arm and righted her back into position. Right hand stabilising on her waist. Knowing she would not fall anymore he resumed his position. Slightly taken aback by her sudden intrusion. He bowed his head slightly to address her formally. After a moment of increase silence, he felt her discomfort grow. For a second he worried that he had scared her in his movements. Knowing how the Turian felt about him, and how close a companion the quarian was to him, he did not want to interfere or create anymore unease than there already was.

Instead, out came a babble of indeterminable words and half statements, in a voice laced with a mire of emotions, incoherent and yet, oddly, fitting. He kept his face a mask of calm so as not to create any further unease or offense for her. This however, did not seem to go down as well as expected, she swivelled from himself to the good Doctor and then, in a flurry of words hastily made an exit before he could ask if she was alright.

They both followed her movements out the door of the laboratory and it took a moment before the Doctor, in a low chuckle, said " Apologies for the disturbance. Did not secure door for privacy. Although I ascertain too lost in her thoughts to have heard anything personal."

" I was not concerned with that. But glad about it still." He beathed and looked back at the salarian. " So my son will suffer the same fate?"

"Very likely he has the indicators. So the probability is high. However there is still potential for the mutation not to occur. The more he stays outside of Kahje, dry regions, warmer climates, healthy lifestyle. All these will assist in prolonging his life span." The doctor picked up a omnipad. "Sending you links that you can look at. Stats and other evidence of clinical as well as home based practices that have shown positive results. Where is your son now?"

The question caught Thane off guard for a second. He knew where his son was. He was with his uncle, Draius. But the sudden knowledge of the length of time that he had not seen his son, seared his heart. He knew his brother had moved them away from Kahje to a colony in the Alpha Draconis sector, researching his White Dwarf solar power relay project. But, he had read a mail from the volus that recently Kolyat's accounts had been accessed on the citadel.

"He is currently on the citadel. Formally, aboard the Science space colony, CSC Solar Sirens." Thane cleared his throat. " I thank you for your information and appreciate your taking the time Dr Solus."

"Mordin, please" The salarian placed the pad down and gesticulated a bit in the air. "All this title business. Titles are not necessary here. As our seeming projected destination is death, let us at least dispense with the unnecessary formalities." He smiled.

Thane nodded once, "As you wish, Mordin. I thank you again"

Having completed his morning routine workout, breathing exercise and meditations he moved to go to the sterilise rooms. Turians, much like krogans and salarians did not need showers like the humans, quarians and asari seemed to. At least not for the same practises. Not possessing porous skin, they did not sweat and so, did not need the normal hygiene treatments that the others tended to need. When they came to Kahje, the Hanar, having no sense of this necessity at all, imported the turian style, sterilise chambers. As the drell were new to the environment it became necessary for them to sterilise often until such a time as they had adapted to the environment.

These chambers became a norm in the drell homes. Used when one departed or returned from off world, or twice a week on Kahje the drell practise took its roots in the culture. The sterilising chambers, blasted a hot neutralising agent based on the species. These would generally destroy all the foreign particles and germs, and helped to keep any diseases spreads on ships to a minimum.

Thane enjoyed the cleanse. Especially after a morning meditation. He found the full work out, cleansed the mind as he focused on his movements. Draining him from unnecessary thoughts and bringing his mind peace. He found the peaceful mind quietened the soul. Excess emotions and unwanted feelings washed away from Kalahira's peace and he became quiet. And the movements dispelled his bodies needs. He would feel each muscle of his body tighten and loosen, and as each movement flowed into the next he felt his physical desires wash away. Excess energy drained and he was left calm. After a thankful prayer to the solitude, he would take his leave and take the sterilising shower as an act to represent this cleansed state.

As he was about to enter the sterilising chamber so did he happen upon Garrus leaving.

"Vakarian."

"Krios"

There was a prolonged moment of intense silence as Thane waited for Garrus to stand aside so that he may enter the chamber.

"Shepard wants you in the conference room. One hour."

"I will be there"

An inaudible grumble escaped from Garrus as he walked passed.

...

Thane walked in the mess hall. One glass of purified water and a Kalah-Levo[12] diet meal package, the only prerequisite Thane requested for accepting the terms of the mission and he sat down and silently gave thanks for the sustenance.

As he ate, he allowed his thoughts to drift to Kolyat. He had confirmed with Vara Tir, his banker that indeed the credit accounts for Kolyat were accessed on the citadel. He had still not received any reply from Draius but he knew that he often worked for days at a time aboard the science vessel away from home and was likely to not receive any correspondence until much later.

 _But why did you go to the Citadel?_

He took a sip of water. On the one hand he needed to make sure his son was ok. Keplers syndrome aside, his son was very important to him and Irikah would not be pleased.

 _"Dre'ea yesu Kalahira kun ün."_ _ **[13]**_ He whispers to himself. A quiet moment to fill his heart and then drift back into the serene black. The wave of memories began to subside and he exhaled and opened his eyes.

And was so startled that his that his calm was broken as quick as he was able to comprehend the scene for across the table from him, staring dead straight at him, was the tattooed human, eating what appeared to be some sort of large "sandwich" type of meal that was served aboard. The drell immediately noticed that the other crew members were watching them both warily out of the corners of their eyes from the other tables.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with your eyes closed and shit?" She took a ferocious bite, chewed hastily and swallowed. "You fucking praying or what?"

As taken aback as he was he responded to the inquest. "Well, I guess I was in a form of prayer, yes."

"Bullshit! I saw you do it to Nassana and told Shep you were putting on a fucking show with this fucking religious, cult, serial killer shit and that we'd better put you down before you self immolate or some shit. HA!" She preceeded to take another bite and then downed it with some sort of ale. "But didn't know you were actually fucked out of your head?" she smiled evilly as she said that and in that instance he understood her provocation.

He smiled and crossed his fingers together in front of his face. "Well if you would like me to, I would pray for you too child? Would you like to confess?"

A moment of silence, and laughter ripped from the young women. "Ha! You are one funny fuck you know that!" She pushed off from the table and used her biotic to fling the tray and bottle to the recycle disposer.

Jack reminded Thane of Yusera. A young asari slave contact he made during his younger years aboard the _Gärn Vęssiön_ the Capital ship of the clandestine criminal group, The Dark Fleet. The Dark Fleet was technically a sanctioned and funded batarian slaver fleet that specialised, not only in catering to the specific whims of their cliental, but offered services that bordered on abhorrent. Pertaining particularly to the dark sexual desires of the more elite and upper echelon criminal individuals of Citadel space. Thus the name.

Yusera was one such slave, however a slave unlike most. Sold when she was born, her mother had been the youngest member of a prominent family in the Asari Republic, and she had fallen preganant with Yusera within her first year of maidenhood. This was beyond scandalous of nature and so her family had opted to have the child sold upon birth. Yusera only knew all this because her master, Gärn Vęsh, the Batarian Admiral of the Dark Fleet had been the one who had bought her and never failed to remind her of it.

Yusera was young, powerful and violent. But the more importantly she was an Ardat-Yakshi. She like Thane had been trained to be an assassin. But while Thane was trained to separate the action from the soul, and to act in the light of the Illuminated Primacy, Yusera on the other hand revelled in the violence and death. She loved every minute of it. Were it not for her close proximity to Gärn, and her immense hate of him that she turned out to be a valuable contact. And as he was Thanes target she was the one who assisted him in accomplishing his mission.

Thane bought himself out of his reverie. Finishing up, he packed and departed for his quarters, reflecting on the conference before.

2 Hours Before:

"Jack!" Shepard yelled as he entered the conference room, "Fun time is over" Thane had been just behind the turian and human as they entered when the scene struck him. Standing confrontationally two fits at her side was Jack, fierce scowl of concentration on her face, staring intently at the two floating bodies of Jacob and Miranda. Both were shouting profanities of one nature or another at Jack. The human female, Thane knew as Kelly, was pleading with Jack to stop while the recently released Krogan leaned against the wall, laughing. Mordin was distracted by some appartent work on his omnitool to pay much attention and Tali was attempting to, and evidently failing at, take command of the situation.

However, on Shepards singular command, Jack released her biotic control and the two Cerberus agents promptly fell to the ground. Miranda was up in a split second and gestured to power up her biotic ability to strike at Jack. But with such speed, Shepard grabbed her wrist and twisted it. " It's over! We are moving on." Miranda stood there defiant for a second, face to face with Shepard. Her fist glowing blue between them both. Thane noticed her glare intensify, and then she inhaled and released her biotic charge. Underneath his breath the dark complextioned human muttered something that seemed to end with "bitch" as he picked himself off the floor. With control re-established, the commander handed the now pale looking Kelly with the files and he motioned her to pass them around.

"Our next recruit" he started, " is a Asari Justicar, who happens to have also been tracked here to illium." He waited for everyone to get aquianted with the file for a moment. Thane glanced at each page and then closed the file instantly. He noticed Jack had not opened the file yet, and Tali merely starred at him for a little moment before continuing with her open reading of the intel. The Intel read similarly to his own, the Justicar was a powerful biotic and would bring a great balance to the team. Thane's own biotic powers aside the team had two additional partial biotics and the one powerhouse. However Jacks unprecendated alignment with destruction, although making her a useful weapon, tactically did not fit all potential scenarios.

"I know that it would seem that we have enough biotic potential that we have it coming out of our ass, but I feel that the more power the better." He then glanced at Jack and smiled, "and maybe we could find someone who could help keep you a little more in check." Jack slouched back in the chair, "hey the Cerberus Bitch started it. Fucking telling me what's appropriate Cerberus fucking decorum and shit." Miranda immediately started "Not everyone wants to see your tattoo you sl." A fist slammed against the table top. "Would you too just STOP!" "Jack quit trying to pick a fight for one goddamn second. And you" he turned to Miranda "My team. My Rules. My Ship. My Say." She glared and did not drop the stare. "Yes. Sir"

Shepard exhaled and resumed the meeting. " The point is that we need another biotic aboard in case. And I have checked her out and it would appear that she is the best option we got." He turned to the end of the file. " I have my concerns. I am not even sure what a Justicar is, however according to Cerberus it would appear to be a highly regarded part of the Asari order and that may also come useful. I will need to ask Liara of that." A suppressed snort escaped from the quarian next to Thane, no one else seemed to have caught it. " However, as I am sure that the mission will go off quietly and without a hitch." Garrus snickered from Shepards right. " I have decided that it might be prudent to at least use this as a test run." He turned scanned the room. "Krios, Grunt, you're going to be joining myself and Tali on this mission. We will be departing in four hours. As for the rest of you. Garrus, you are XO, Lawson you are CO and now the rest of you, PO" Thane remained still even though most of the others got up to move.

The scarlet haired human reached over and touched his arm motioning. "He means for us to go." Thane slightly confused with the abrupt end, picked up his file and made his move to go to drop it in his quarters and then make his way to the mess hall. As he exited, he heard Shepard tell Garrus. "If those two try kill eachother, just let them. Would be much less hassle." He exhaled holding the bridge of his nose. " And if one survives, I order you to Shoot the other!" Garrus just chuckled in response.

* * *

[1] By the Damned Homeworld, I Am no-one stepped into no-where.

[2] An Ancestral Salute.

[3] Plural to Bosh'tet

[4] A mythical figure. A cursed Captain and vessel that left the Flotilla in the early days.

[5] Variations of Bosh'tet

[6] A popular brand of Turian Brandy served aboard all ships in the in the Turian Fleets.

[7] Genetically modified plant, one of the few to survive from Rannoch

[8] Two Rannoch creatures, resembling a blue owl-shaped like mammal embracing a white antelope with four eyes and feathers.

[9] Something close to "May the ancestors welcome you to eternity."

[10] By the Damned Homeworld – Highly offensive curse.

[11] Lost in self

[12] Kahal is a religious order within the drell. The Kahal revere Kalahira, and abide by her teachings especially regarding the health of the soul. The Kahal are the smallest religious sect of the drell and have been referred to as monastic and archaic by critics.

[13]She who has sailed across Kalahira ocean


End file.
